The Avengers Forever: The Young Avenger

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Man-Eater of Surrey Green
By Joseph A.P. Lloyd

Direction: Three out of five. Although I know that Sidney Hayers can direct fabulously (see "The Superlative Seven"), he seems to be a little off-form this week. Maybe it is because of the plot, which Philip Levene took too far. One can imagine our old friend Terry Nation doing something like this, but for the combination that brought us the best episode this season, you might have expected more. There is one superbly funny moment where he pans up her body, though!

Plot: Two out of five. B-film alert! Although "Invasion of the Earthmen" might have well been described by this, at least Brett was a human mastermind! This is like Invasion of the Body Snatchers or even worse. Oh dear, it is a wonder he was asked back after producing such tosh.

Music: Three out of five. Just when you think you are going to hear a good theme at the start, it gets interspersed with an irritating whirring in the background, which is perhaps not what was needed to increase the tension. All right, but just not as good as the rest of the season.

Wittiness: Three out of five. One might have expected more from someone as great as Philip Levene, but it is not appalling, just too average! Emma on her chances of survival: "The plant's only man eating."

Action: Three out of five. Although it is man versus plant most of the time, this episode is remarkable as it puts Steed versus Emma! Steed wins, but I think it might have been better to have Steed caught up in the will of the plant, and then have Emma win! What a statement that would have been on the front pages!

Cars/Sets/Locations: Four out of five. At the start, Laura Burford is swept away by the driver of a Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn, so extra points for that. As well as this, however, Steed has his Vauxhall 30/98 back, just so that Sir Lyle Petersen's chauffeur can put a cactus on his seat. There is lots of location filming as well, especially in that old barn! A good score.

Introduction/Tag: Three and a half out of five. That wonderfully romantic first scene with Alan losing his bride with not so much as a by or leave is wonderfully inexplicable, even if it seems a little shabbily done. Then there is the tag, which is about as good as the series gets. BOING!

Overall Impression: Despite the B-film plot, the silly acting in some sequences, and some cruddy sets, Philip Levene still manages to give us a reasonable amount of wit and that fight between Steed and Emma is not to be missed, but it is sad that one of them has to lose! I think this does go a little too far, and there really are too many characters to keep track of. That dotty lady botanist makes me laugh every time, though!

Rating: Six and a half out of ten.